8 Answers
8

I think it depends how serious you are about your playing. If you just want to learn to play songs then you can probably get by with just reading tabs. The internet is full of them after all.

If however, you wish to get into theory and writing music then it is absolutely necessary. It may also be necessary if you wish to play and discuss things with other musicians (though it's entirely impossible you won't run into it there).

It would recommend it either way, but then I've been playing for many years and I started out on the clarinet, so I had to learn. I think it really helps you understand what your playing - and thus allows you to improve that playing, but as you've mentioned, you've been playing for two years and still haven't encountered a need to learn, so you may be fine.

I'm learning classical guitar - and standard music notation is an absolute must for this. I guess the answer to your question is kind of obvious if you're talking about classical guitar, but most people don't have that in mind when they say 'guitar'.

Depends. What do you want to accomplish? If you have aspirations towards being a studio musician or playing in "the pit" on Broadway or whatever... Then the ability to read is essential.
Not so much if you are a "roots" musician who likes to pick and grin on the back porch.

You'd be hard pressed to find a single one of the great blues masters who could read a note...

Jazz.... I would say that a great number of jazz players are pretty fluent, but mostly what you would be provided with in an ensemble is a "chart" rather than a fully written-out piece of music.
Jazz being muchly about improvisation, after all.

Not unless you're learning to compose music and happen to be composing on the guitar, or you are learning classical/jazz guitar. Can't think of another reason other than to impress other musicians with your geekery.

To be quite honest here with you, learning standard notation is pointless other than for the geek aspect of it. Some would argue with this, but learning standard notation does not give you any advantage over someone who just knows how to play by ear and read guitar tabulature.

I am pretty sure that a lot of famous guitarists weren't trained in standard notation. Jimi Hendrix certainly didn't know standard notation, but it didn't make him any less of a guitar player. Same goes for a few other people, including Herman Li of Dragonforce.

Learn it if you want a challenge, but I'd honestly spend all of that effort perfecting your technique. Learn to master the art of sweeping or something.

@Dwayne, "I don't quite understand the advantages standard notation gives you when it comes to guitar.". It's a flexibility thing. It makes you more marketable. If you, and another guitarist who is equally as good, are competing for a session or live gig requiring the ability to read, and you can't read charts without chords and they can, guess who'll get the job? It's the same as knowing different styles and having the equipment needed to get different sounds. You're making yourself more available.
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AnonymousApr 1 '11 at 4:46

I once learned standard notation to some extent while doing guitar lessons. After a while I started to get really rusty.

On a guitar teaching website, a saw a video where the author mentioned some exercieses he did when he realised he was starting to forget standard notation. That's when it hit me.

The reason I was forgetting standard notation is that I wasn't using it in the least. Except when practicing standard notation. Why was I praticing it, then ?

Some people have a need for standard notation. Others don't. If you find yourself in the second category your time can be better used than learning standard notation and then making sure you don't forget it.

I got my first guitar 25 years ago. I have been playing in church for about ten, often receiving new chord sheets a half-hour before I start to play them. I have only received sheet music once, and even then, I just played chords. Generally, I get chord sheets and occasionally MP3s.

I have been trying to pick up the skill, to some success. I can't sight-read, but I can get to the point where I can scratch it out. My sons took band in middle school (some are still taking) and they have that particular skill in spades. It makes me sick. And if they can combine that skill with playing the notes they read, they might be able to step to the next level. But as is, I'm one of the players who "knows theory" in the band.

So, I don't consider it to be a crucial skill for guitarists, quite the opposite, but certainly it's a skill I wish I had.

I play jazz, and I study sight reading. It makes it a lot easier to have the skills to play up to speed when you're handed an unfamiliar tune from a fake book. Also, part of my learning process is transcription, which absolutely requires music reading/writing skills to be at all efficient. I find tab to be much less expressive, and avoid it for that reason, although I have no religious objections to it. So for me reading is a useful tool. Your context may differ, and other skills may take precedence. I will say that it certainly won't hurt you to know.